German aces don’t have it easy

Germany’s top shuttlers Marc Zwiebler and Juliane Schenk won their opening matches at the US$120,000 Bitburger Open on Wednesday, but it was the end of the road for Michael Fuchs-Birgit Michels.

Top seed Schenk (left), who is chasing her first tournament victory of the season, had a slight scare against Holland’s Judith Meulendijks, before pulling through to the second round.
Schenk, who missed out on winning her first OSIM BWF World Superseries title when she lost in the final of the Yonex Open Japan in September, is determined to add this title after missing out on the German Open earlier this year.
Again a hungry Meulendijks, Schenk had to pull out all the stops before recording a 21-18, 19-21, 21-9 victory. She will now play Karina Jorgensen for a place in the quarter-finals.
Jorgensen, who was born in India, but has lived almost her entire life in Denmark, booked her ticket to the second round when she defeated Switzerland’s Jeanine Cicognini 21-17, 21-13.
Jorgensen’s compatriot, Tine Baun, the person most likely to prevent Schenk from winning the title, had a little help getting to the second round when her opponent Rajae Rochdy retired hurt after losing the first game 21-6 and down 11-1 in the second.
Baun will now play Thailand’s Sapsiree Taerattanachai, who defeated Simone Prutsch 21-9, 21-17.
Zwiebler, who won the Canada Open four months ago, nearly didn’t get past the first round as China’s Chen Yuekun put up a tough fight before going down in three games.
The second seeded Zwiebler had to dig deep before scoring a narrow 21-13, 24-26, 21-19 victory in 63 minutes.
He was back on court later in the day, to take on compatriot Alexander Roovers for a place in the third round. Once against Zwiebler started brightly, taking the first game 21-12. He was then pushed all the way by Roovers before winning the second 21-18.
Former world junior champion Wang Zhengming put his recent injury scare behind him by reaching the second round without dropping a game in his opening two matches.
The Chinese shuttler, who had to concede a walkover to teammate Chen Long in last week’s Yonex French Open Superseries quarter-finals, beat Bulgaria’s Blagovest Kisyov 21-15, 21-15 in the morning and then Germany’s Hannes Kaesbauer 21-6, 21-17 later in the day.
Fuchs-Michels, who were the Canada Open champions, failed to live up to their status as the second seeds when they were beaten by Chinese duo He Hanbin and Bao Yixin (picture), the reigning Bankaltim Indonesia Open Grand Prix Gold mixed doubles winners.
The young Chinese pair edged a tight match 21-15, 13-21, 21-19 and will now play the Scottish-English combination of Robert Blair-Gabrielle White on Thursday.
The British duo, who have fond memories of Germany after winning the German Open in March, booked their ticket to the second round after a titanic struggle with Germany’s Peter Kaesbauer-Johanna Goliszewski.
In a hotly contested match, Blair-White just edged it 21-19, 19-21, 22-20.